Triumphrat

ChadM

Ok. I thought I had this figured out, (erroneous fault, battery connection etc...) but this spring the problem with the '05 persisted. Last fall, I had the engine management light come on and as predicted, after the 3 heat / cool cycles the light went out. The light came back on a couple of short rides later and then it was time to refuel. I filled it with Premium fuel and low and behold, a few kilometers later the light went out. Red Herring. A couple short trips later, the light came back on and then went out again after 3 heat / cool cycles. One of the last rides last fall, before I laid the bike up for the winter, the bike started as usual, the engine light came on and so did the engine fan. The bike was stone cold, and the ambient temp was no more than 20'C. Anyway, the condition persisted, the idle stayed high until the fan went off, all else was normal after that, with the exception of the light. *winter* Today was my first real ride of the season and when I started it, the fan came on right away, same deal as last fall. After about 140kms, with the temp gauge perhaps a millimeter above the lower C portion of the scale (normal), I stopped the bike and went into a shop for perhaps 10 minutes. When I came out to start the bike, the temp gauge needle came just off the perch, where normally it should have been well into lower portion of the scale even after a couple minutes of riding. I rode the 120kms back home with the light lit and no other fault.
Is it reasonable to assume that the coolant sensor is responsible for the minor error in the temp gauge, the "fan on" condition and triggering the engine management fault? I live in the middle of nowhere and it's around 400kms to the nearest Triumph dealer. Maybe somebody out there has already gone through something similar? I'd sooner order the sensor than haul / ride the bike to the dealer, however if it's something deeper like an ECU fault, then maybe I have no choice.

miker

Chad, to me it does sound like a sensor, but first I'd check for airlocks in the cooling system.

Sometimes, the temp sensor sits in an airlock and therefore won't give you an accurate reading. The best thing is to check the manual on draining the coolant from the radiator and the engine and refilling it correctly to see if it has any effect on the fan coming on when it's cold.

If it still does it, then it's off to the dealer who can check and clear the fault codes and tell you what sensor is broken.

Mick

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ChadM

Will a cooling system keep an airlock indefinitely? I drive old VW's so this coolant thing is sort of new to me. I would think that as the coolant circulates, eventually the bubble would move along, unless that's the coolant sensor on top of the cylinder head (highest point) then I can see where it might be tough to move. I had everything apart today just to see where it's all located, if I had some coolant on hand it would have been a good time to drain and refill. Another day.

Thanks.

update: opening up the cooling system (rad cap and bleeder) and cycling the engine apparently did the trick, light is out and has been for the last 400 kms. If it burped, it was miniscule. 2nd update, another 500kms (900kms since opening it up) and the light is still off.